CREATING THE CONSTITUTION - Kyrene School District · Constitution in December, 1787… The 9th state to approve the new constitution was New Hampshire, which made it official (June

The United States has operated under two constitutions. The first, The Articles of Confederation, was in effect from March 1, 1781.

The Articles tried to balance two very different ideas:

1. A central government that would represent all the states.

2. State sovereignty (the power to make decisions within its own borders)

*Each state had one vote…regardless of how many people lived in the state.

*It had no taxation power….no way to raise money to provide services.

*There was no national court to settle disputes between the states.

*Each state had its own money system.

*There was no executive to carry out and enforce the laws made by the Congress.

http://www.usconstitution.net/constconart.html

Daniel Shays, a farmer in Massachusetts, and his neighbors were about to lose their farms because they couldn’t afford to pay their taxes. In protest, they took over the Massachusetts courthouse at gunpoint.

Massachusetts asked the Congress for help, but since there was no money (and therefore no army), they couldn’t do anything to help…

The states and Congress realized they needed to make some changes.

Took place in May 1787, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania at the State House.

55 delegates representing the 12 of the 13 states came. (Rhode Island did not send a representative)

The weather was extremely hot and humid and there was a terrible case of flies in the city, so they worked in the State House with closed windows.

The windows were also shut, to keep the details of the meeting secret from the public.

Most of the delegates were wealthy, well-educated, white males.

The average age of the delegates was 42.

George Washington was the president of the Convention. He only voted when there was a tie amongst the delegates.

James Madison took detailed notes, and it is because of him that we know so much about the Convention. He is often called the Father of the Constitution.

Ben Franklin was by the oldest delegate at 81 years of age and he encouraged all the delegates to cooperate when they disagreed on issues being written into our constitution.

Thomas Jefferson was not present at the convention, as he was in France at the time.

The convention lasted 4 months and included debate on many difficult issues of the time.

One State, One Vote

Majority Decides

Keep the Proceedings Secret

The delegates didn’t want the public to know how divided they were as a group.

It would have been difficult for them to modify their opinions without being criticized or pressured.

• How much power should be given to the national government vs. state gov’t

• Representation in Congress (proportional vs. one state-one vote)

• Who should regulate trade and commerce?

• Slavery

• How to balance the powers of the three branches

• Who can vote?

Some delegates wanted a stronger national government

Some delegates favored more power for the state governments…..

NEW JERSEY PLANVIRGINIA PLAN

Gave a little more power to

central gov’t, but most power

still with state gov’ts.

3 Branches (Legislative,

Executive, Judicial)

Unicameral (one “house”)

Each state has one vote in

Legislature

Favored by the smaller states

and the Confederationists

Gave the central government much more power

3 Branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)

Bicameral (two separate “houses)

Number of members of both houses based on population

Favored by the larger states and the Nationalists

The national congress

would have BOTH

proportional and equal

representation…

(Senate = every state has two votes

House of

Representatives = states

Represented

proportionally by

population)

The delegates agreed that the national government would not do anything to stop the import of slaves for 20 years… (they had to or they would have lost the support of the southern states)

Slaves would count as 3/5 for determining population …. Good for southerners for representation, but bad for slave owners for determining taxes.

Congress had the power to regulate trade (international and interstate).

The Constitution was signed by the

delegates on September 17, 1787

Only 42 delegates remained when the Constitution was written. Many of the delegates had gone home by then due to family issues or illness.

Of the 42 delegates remaining, only 39 signed the constitution, which was written onto parchment.

George Washington was the first to sign his name. The other delegates signed after him.

Once it was signed, it needed to be ratified, or approved by the states.

It was agreed that only 9 of the 13 states approval was needed for the final draft to become law.

Not everyone was happy with the document they had created, and a national debate erupted.

FEDERALISTS vs. ANTI-FEDERALISTS

Federalists -Favored the new Constitution Anti-Federalists - opposed to the new Constitution

Leaders Alexander HamiltonGeorge WashingtonJames MadisonJohn Jay

Patrick HenrySam AdamsJames MonroeThomas Jefferson

Types of People that Supported the Party

Large landowners, JudgesLawyers, Leading clergymenWealthy Merchants

Small farmers, Small Landowners, Shopkeepers, Laborers, Debtors

Main Beliefs Want a strong federal government,

Favored a large Republic…better to control factions and protect interests of the minority

Were against adding a Bill of Rights…feltthe new government was strong enough to prevent abuses.

Wanted stronger state governments at the expense of the federal government,

Favored a small republic with frequent elections,smaller districts, more direct democracy (central government too far away from the people)

Wanted a Bill of Rights included…Individual rights need to be guaranteed, because a strong central government would endanger people’s liberties.

A compromise was reached…. A “Bill of Rights” would be added AFTER the Constitution was ratified.

Delaware became the first state to approve the Constitution in December, 1787… The 9th state to approve the new constitution was New Hampshire, which made it official (June 21, 1788)

May 29, 1790, Rhode Island ratified the Constitution…finally all thirteen states had accepted it.

The Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution) was adopted in 1791.

The document that was ratified contained the following:

Preamble (We the People of the United States…)

Article I =The Legislature

Article II =The Executive

Article III =The Judiciary

Article IV = Relations Between the States

Article V = Amending the Constitution

Article VI = Supremacy of the National Government

Article VII = Ratification